


but we've got our love to pay the bills

by shafferthefirst



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Apartment hunting, Domesticity, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Post 4x03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8320144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shafferthefirst/pseuds/shafferthefirst
Summary: “You do realize the purpose of having a day off is to, ah, sleep in, right? To catch up on what we’re lacking from working all the time?”
“Not in my book. I’m a firm believer in using this valued time wisely, by running away a little while. Since, you know, we’re here nine times out of ten anyway.”
“Not for long,” he mumbles.





	

**Author's Note:**

> for eva, who demanded this yesterday. and I haven't seen tonight's episode yet so I am staying in my happy canon i love yous sneak peek bubble until further notice.
> 
> and a special thank you to cindy for beta-ing <3
> 
> title is from "you & i" by ingrid michaelson.

When he’d held her close within the four walls of their bunk, the night the world went dark and they finally stepped into the light, Fitz murmured the words against her skin of her neck, soft in contrast to her nails along his back.

 

Jemma had been upset, still shaken from holding May’s life in her hands, and it was the first thing to come to his mind:  _ let’s get away. _

 

_ How do you mean? _

 

_ SHIELD is back on the map; we don’t have to hide anymore. _ He kissed her eyelid then, from where he’d stilled above her.  _ Let’s get a place of our own. _

 

_ You’re serious? _

 

_ As a brain injury. _

 

_ You’ve really got to stop using that analogy. _

 

That had made him grin, pecking her lips.  _ Think about it, and I might. _

 

After, they’d spent hours looking up apartments in the vicinity, days shooting emails back and forth, and discussing a “reasonable” budget, much to Jemma’s dismay, every spare moment they had together, and their little fantasy became more and more real each time.

 

-

 

“You do realize the purpose of having a day off is to, ah, sleep in, right?” Fitz mumbles, voice still raspy and low. “To catch up on what we’re lacking from working all the time?”

 

“Not in my book.” Jemma pinches lightly at his ribcage. “I’m a firm believer in using this valued time wisely, by running away a little while. Since, you know, we’re here nine times out of ten anyway.”

 

“Not for long,” he mumbles, a sleepy smile playing at his lips.

 

“I know,” she beams back at him, eyes growing starry. “But the sooner you get up, the sooner we’ll get there.”

 

Fitz cracks one eye open, her smile nearly blinding him as it does most mornings. And nights, and afternoons, and basically every time it appears, which is a lot these days. He reaches out to caress her cheek, thumbing at her chin, fingers inching into her hair, lifting her head upwards—and promptly steals her pillow out from under it.

 

_ “ _ Hey!” she shrieks. He lets out a victorious noise and covers his face with the pillow, now sandwiched between it and his own. 

 

After a beat, he makes a tiny crack between them to peek at her, says,  _ “You’ll get this back when you learn how to appreciate it,”  _ with a firm nod, and closes the gap again.

 

“Fiiiitz,” Jemma all but purrs, running her fingers down his tee shirt to reclaim his attention. “Come on, now.” She huffs and crawls over to straddle his abdomen, removing the pillow herself. “We have  _ plans.” _

 

“I suddenly like where these plans are going.” His words tumble into her mouth as his hands reach her ass through her shorts to pull her flush against him. She giggles, sucking his top lip between hers. When they break, panting against each other’s chests, Jemma peers over to the clock on her side that reads 6:19 A.M.

 

‘Well,” she ducks her head down for two more gentle kisses, “I suppose, we  _ do _ have all day to catch up on what we’re lacking from working all the time… “

 

Instead of letting her finish her train of thought, he flips them over and pins her against his stack of pillows, slanting her lips open for a heated kiss that sends shivers all through her bloodstream and prying the buttons of her pajama shirt open. She arches to help him push it over her shoulders, then sets to work on yanking off his in turn.

 

After all, today, time is theirs.

 

-

 

By 7:30, they’re decent enough to borrow one of SHIELD’s cars and take the morning by storm. Jemma drives, giddy and buzzing with excitement (and poking Fitz awake when he starts drifting off against the window). 

 

“Honestly, I thought I’d woken you up enough,” she tuts well into the trip.

 

He’s about to fire back, but his stomach decides to audibly protest for him. “Think you worked up my appetite, at least.”

 

Eyeing a little diner in the mirror, Jemma grins and switches on her blinker. “Glad I’m good for something.”

 

“Oh, but you knew that.” 

 

She’s still grinning when she parks the car.

 

-

 

“It checks all our boxes!” She spins the notebook-turned-spreadsheet around and pushes it until it bumps his elbow, the one he  _ isn’t _ using to stuff his face with. “See?”

 

“I cannot believe you color coded this.” He meets her narrowed brow, smirks a bit, takes another bite of toast. “No wait. Actually, I can believe it.”

 

“It’s a comprehensive system and there’s nothing wrong with that!” she defends. “F is for fuschia is for Fitz’s requirements, jade for mine, indigo for where they intersect, merigold for—”

 

“Yes, okay, I’m glad you used an entire box of colored pencils; that’s commitment.” Jemma scolds his sarcasm by stealing a slice of bacon off his plate. “No I’m serious! You even lined it with a ruler. That’s a classic finals week move. That means  _ business. _ ”

 

Biting her lip to keep her grin at bay, she takes the book back, tracing the checkmarks with her fingertips and sighing dazedly. 

 

“I have a good feeling about this one, alright? Now, eat your eggs. We’re meeting the landlord at nine.”

 

-

 

“I have a _ really _ good feeling about this one,” she tells him again, tugging him along the sidewalk. The extra spring in her step keeps her pace at a higher speed than his and her enthusiasm is incredibly contagious; Fitz just likes to keep his girlfriend on her toes for his own amusement.

 

“I couldn’t tell,” he chuckles, enjoying her babbling on.

 

“And don’t think I haven’t noticed how uneasy you are about it being a  _ smidge _ over budget,” Jemma points out in the same breath and emphasizes the word  _ smidge _ by demonstrating with her free thumb and index finger.

 

“What? Me?” he glances around nonchalantly, ducking his head. She gives him a knowing look and he caves. “Okay, maybe a bit. Growing up with a single mum will do that to you.”

 

“Hey,” she stops them in their tracks, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands. “It’s alright, Fitz. I know that. I have known you for the better part of twelve years, believe it or not.” She rises on her tiptoes to press a long kiss against his forehead. “Besides, living rent-free for going on four years with two hearty paychecks—three if you count my time in Hydra—not to mention my promotion and your incredible schematics,” she squeezes both his hands in hers, eyes shining, “I think, in the circumstance of the perfect home...a little splurging won’t wreck us  _ too _ badly.”

 

In a quick move, he breaks his hands free only to capture hers with them instead, and brings her knuckles close to plant kisses upon.

 

“You’re brilliant, you know that? Have I mentioned that before today?”

 

“Only several times.”

 

-

 

“I, for one, think that went very well.”

 

“Oh, she brought  _ cookies. _ It was going  _ very well _ five minutes in.”

 

“I mean the apartment itself.” Jemma rolls her eyes fondly. 

 

He shrugs. “Yeah, I guess that was alright too.”

 

Chuckling, she bumps her hip into his as they stroll. “C’mon, you  _ know _ you loved it.”

“Eh.” Fitz makes a so-so hand gesture, before matching her grin.  _ “Okay, _ it was bloody fantastic. That what you wanted to hear?”

“Exactly right.” She weaves her arm through the crook of his elbow, sighing happily and leaning her head on his shoulder. “Cozy little breakfast nook, beautiful hardwood flooring—”

 

“Perfect for sock sliding and Winter Olympics reenactments—” she presses her forehead into his arm to stifle her giggling.

 

“The bay window is  _ incredible _ . Oh, it just needs a touch of color to really make it homey, maybe some throw pillows or a new cushion—nothing a trip to Ikea won’t fix.”

 

“And they allow  _ pets _ , Jem,” he says, grinning down at her, expectantly. “Which means...“

 

“We are  _ not _ getting a monkey, Leopold Fitz. Perhaps a cat, or a dog under fifty pounds. But a monkey is out of the question.”

 

“Well,” he smirks, “last time I brought it up you said it was  _ completely _ out of the question. I’m wearing you down.” He sneaks a kiss to the top of her head before she can argue. She doesn’t.

 

They reach the car in a blissful silence, Fitz opting to drive home so she can flip through the hundreds of pictures they’d taken. Most are standard wide shots of the interior, to later be used for a virtual three-dimensional blueprint he’s already designing in his head, but there are a few fun ones amongst the mix: Jemma grinning cheekily in front of the bay window with her thumbs up, Fitz laying face-down the middle of the floor (two cookies totally visible in one of his back pocket), a joint selfie with the neighbor’s excitable dog—who popped in through the opened door to investigate his potential new friends, and many other cheesy shots when the landlord wasn’t looking.

 

Her thumb stills on the one room they hadn’t really spoken about: the extra bedroom. It’s a touch smaller, but still spacious. She hovers over it for a minute too long, causing her to trail off mid-sentence.

 

“I suppose we’ll be taking the big one,” he notes, stirring her from her thoughts.

 

“Well, of course we will.”

 

“And as for that one…”

 

“I’m sure we’ll find a use for it, eventually.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Fitz meets her eye briefly before flicking back to the road, a light blush on both their faces.

 

“Yeah,” Jemma says softly, almost dreamily. “Though the neighbors wasted  _ no _ time on bringing us up to speed on the amount of schools in the general vicinity.”

 

“Or the playground across the street,” he adds.

 

She smiles at him again. “Not very subtle, were they?”

 

“No,” he laughs. “Not in the slightest.”

  
She drops the phone in her lap and tangles their fingers together on the center console, thumb running over the back of his hand and a zing of excitement zipping through her veins at the unwritten future setting its pace before their very eyes.

 


End file.
